Archive for July 14th, 2008

Sunday was the day I tortured myself. Oldest daughter was off with her very important social circle. So I took youngest daughter and wifey out to lunch and a Katy Mills Mall. Typically, I only go into BassPro and never venture forth into the mall proper. Now I know why.

The mall trip was designed to put some cash in youngest daughter’s hands and let he make some shopping decisions for herself. It was designed to be fun and a math lesson all at once. It also turned out to be a lesson in how to piss off Daddy. About every 100 yards, somebody would come up to us and ask us to either: do a survey, try this, smell this, give me just a minute to demonstrate our hair straightener, or extol the virtues of teeth whitening (yes, you can get your teeth bleached in a chair in the middle of the mall causeway). Add all of this to the fact that everyone and their uncles seemed determined to meander directly in front of me without looking. I was ready to drop a shoulder and just lay somebody, anybody, out. Antagonizing me does NOT encourage me to spend money.

Thankfully, youngest daughter did not buy a hermit crab but did manage to come home with change. Attagirl!

I have two cats right now. The grand total in my life is now at three. I find them to be more agreeable than dogs and far less maintenenace. What can I say? I’m lazy. Cat whiskers have always struck me as amazing appendages, too. Finding a cat whisker on the floor or a chair or sofa always caused me to bend down and pick it up, stare at it, and utter a “hunh”. And i would save them. Those little styrofoam rings that come on the top of blank CD/DVD spindles? I stick cat whiskers in ’em and they sit on my desk. I could equip a smallish kitty army at this point. Don’t know why I do it. I must be weird.

If you were fortunate, you spent the entire weekend asleep. Otherwise, there was no way to escape the news of the Favre fracas. Brett Favre has been a fixture of the Green Bay Packers for a very long time. He’s ridden the highs and lows of both team and individual achievements and failures. There is no doubt that he is one of the best to ever play quarterback. And he’s also more indecisive than a teenager picking out a prom dress. Retire, not retire… The last few seasons’ ends have been high drama and the entire Packers team and management have been on the hook awaiting the word from on high. It’s kinda tough to make plans. Has he earned the right to change his mind? Sure. Just not a bajillion times and he should have the common courtesy to give the Packers some kind of heads up. Now he wants an unconditional release. Does anyone else remember how friggin’ bizarre it was to see Joe Montana playing for the Kansas City Chiefs? Dear Brett, you are addicted to football (and you already have some familiarity with addiction, eh?). Walk out on top and leave a shining legacy in Green Bay. And please don’t come to Houston.

What’s that, you say? Houston? Yep. If Favre is granted his release, one of the names that has come up is Houston. Yes, it would be a major climate change. But the Texans might be eager to have a Hall Of Famer like Favre shove them in the direction of the playoffs. Favre already knows Ahman Green and Houston has some very potent receivers that you may have heard of. And with prime QB’s Schaub and Rosenfels already on the roster, Favre’s presence provides interesting trade options that would further strengthen the team. It might make for an interesting 2008 season, but would likely result in eventual chaos. What would the Texans do if Favre started retirement waffling with them?

I read the news that Budweiser has agreed to be consumed by InBev. A lot of folks are up in arms about the demise of the American company. There really hasn’t been such a thing for a very long time. It’s a global market and there are global corporations. And since corporations are all about making money, it makes sense for them to maximize their return on investment. The Dollar sucks right now and will continue to suck. That means that US-based enterprises are attractive investments to “ferners”. So what? Better that the government should bail them out? We tried that a couple of times in other industries…